Hope from the Shadows

Chapter 5: A Shadow's Nightmares part 2

Chapter 5: A Shadow's Nightmares part 2

Warning:some minor reference to suicide.

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They had told him. It was the only thing Gaara complained about, the main reason Baa-san wanted to retire and the excuse Jiji always used to explain why he could not spend more time with him as a child. He even had a taste of it as the Hokage Candidate, but simply dismissed it as a small downside to the job.

He was an idiot.

Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, Rokudaime Hokage of Konoha was currently engaged in a war of attrition. His enemy was the bane of all kages; Paperwork.

He had been at it for the past 10 hours, forgoing sleep and eating ration bars for sustenance. Each time he thought he had finally crushed his opponent, it came back in even greater numbers. His shadow clones were a huge help, but he wasn't willing to summon too many of them. The headaches and the exhaustion had been worth it when it came to bringing back Sasuke to Konoha, but he wasn't willing to suffer those pains in this case.

So there he was, at his desk in the office he had always dreamed to occupy, and the only thing he wanted was to leave it. Go see his friends, train for a few hours or eat a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku. An administrative chuunin bringing in a new stack of forms for him to complete was the last straw. His enemy had even taken over his floor!

Quickly sunshining out of the room, and he really needed to figure out his father's Hiraishin; it would make a great way to escape, Naruto searched for the isolated dango shop he had recently found.

He was just about to enter it, when his instincts warned him of an approaching danger and he crouched down in a ready state. Good thing he did because the kunai currently embed in the shop's door had definitely been aimed at his head.

"The End of the world will be your fault, you fool! Pay for your crimes!" screamed the old shinobi, disguised as a civilian passerby who had thrown the kunai at him. He threw another, but Naruto didn't have to do anything this time. The weapon was intercepted by one of his ANBU guards who then stood protectively in front his Hokage. The rest swiftly neutralized the attacker.

"Apologies Hokage-sama," said Usagi, the one who had stopped the kunai, "protocol dictates that we take him alive for Ibiki-sama to work on, but the others were a little too enthusiast. It's the first attempt on your life after all."

"I...," began Naruto shakily before getting a grip on his emotions. "No matter, good job. Should I be expecting this situation to happen often?"

"I don't think so, sir. Maybe a few fanatics like this one, but the world is presently at peace. You'll certainly be the target of less assassinations than Yondaime-sama," reflected his father's former bodyguard.

The blond Namikaze was about to ask for more details on that subject when he sensed many powerful chakra signatures quickly coming in their direction. He tensed and went for his weapon pouch, but his ANBU guard stopped him.

"No need to get alarmed, sir. This is only the cavalry drawn by the commotion," the elite shinobi tone was as professional as ever, but a small hint of amusement shone through.

Concentrating, Naruto indeed sensed that the chakra signatures where familiars. Sakura's, Kakashi's and Sasuke's amongst them. He relaxed his stance and prepared himself to be fussed over. That wasn't what he really had in mind when he wished for a distraction from the Paperwork.

Naruto was walking home after another day of hard work as the Hokage. Due to the very late hour, few people were out on the streets and thus he could stroll through Konoha unbothered, a very rare occurrence these days.